


Jealousy

by SharkGirl



Series: Home [22]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animal Hybrids, Animal Hybrid AU, Boys Kissing, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Prequel, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:12:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8119468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: Kenma was fourteen years old when he first felt that gnawing, burning sensation rising up in his throat, unlike anything he’d ever experienced in his young life.A prequel fic.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just really wanted to write this. I want to delve more into Kuroo and Kenma's relationship because, even though we've seen it, we haven't _seen_ it, ya know? (Does that make sense? lol)
> 
> Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy!  
> Unbeta'd ^^

Kenma was fourteen years old when he first felt that gnawing, burning sensation rising up in his throat, unlike anything he’d ever experienced in his young life.

He was sitting in Kuroo’s room, playing the handheld gaming console the older boy had given him, purchased with the money he’d earned helping folks around the apartment building.  Cleaning their windows, tidying their rooms, watching their pets while they were on vacation, and other tasks suitable for a fifteen-year-old who had not yet gotten his parents approval to get an actual after school part time job.

Kuroo had insisted that it had once been his and that he’d grown tired of playing with it.  But Kenma knew better.  The system was too new, too well-maintained for something that had come out of Kuroo’s mess of room.

Kenma had been playing for hours, his battery nearly depleted, when he finally realized something.

Kuroo hadn’t come home yet.

The older boy often stayed late after school to practice with his volleyball club.  He kept asking Kenma to tag along and ‘give it a try,’ but the cat hybrid didn’t want to leave the safety of his adoptive family’s apartment.

He barely liked leaving Kuroo’s room to venture out into the kitchen for some food, which had Kuroo fussing over him all the time about whether or not he’d eaten that day or the nutritional value of whatever he'd managed to scavenge before Kuroo’s mother or father came home from work.

It’s not that Kenma didn’t like Kuroo’s parents.  It was just that…he’d been hurt by adults before.  So, he didn’t care for people in general.  Avoided them at all costs.

But Kuroo was different.

Kuroo was intrusive and nosy, but always kind.  Thinking about him made Kenma's belly warm and his heart ache at the same time.  It was strange, but he didn’t mind it.  He always felt safest curled up beside Kuroo in the other boy’s bed, his head tucked under his chin and his tail wrapped around them.

The older boy liked the sleep on his stomach – and that’s how Kenma often found him when he woke up in the middle of the night – but, before that, Kuroo would hold the cat hybrid in his arms, stroking his hair and rubbing his ears until Kenma purred and finally fell asleep.

Kenma set his gaming console down, plugging it in so it could recharge.  He sat up and popped his neck.  Both it and his shoulders were sore from how he’d been hunched over the tiny screen, tapping combination after combination of buttons until he defeated the boss and reached the save point.

A quick glance at Kuroo’s bedside clock showed that it was nearly seven.

After school practice had ended over an hour ago.  It was unusual for Kuroo to be this late.

When Kenma walked out of the room, his sharp eyes checked up and down the hallway, searching for Kuroo’s parents.  They often worked late, so perhaps they were still out.

He made his way over to the kitchen and lifted his nose, sniffing the air.  Something smelled good.  He spotted a pot on the stove, covered but releasing little spurts of steam every so often.  There was a note on the counter beside it, so he walked over and picked it up.

_‘Sorry for the short notice, Tetsurou, but your father was asked to stay late and a friend of mine from out of town asked if I would join her for dinner.  There’s vegetable porridge on the stove.  I knocked on your door, but Ken-chan didn’t answer-’_

That was probably when he was taking a catnap earlier.

_‘-Please make sure he eats, too.  I love you both, Mom.’_

Kenma gripped the paper as his chest tightened.  Kuroo’s mother was always so nice to him.  He wished he could trust her.  Could trust anyone.

There was only Kuroo.  Kuroo, who found him, took care of him, brought him home.  Kuroo, who spent every cent he earned on things for Kenma, never asking for anything in return.

Kuroo, who still wasn’t home.

Kenma started to get worried.  What if something horrible had happened?  What if he’d gotten hurt at practice?  Or worse!  What if he’d been mugged on the way home?  Or his train derailed?

He flattened his ears against his head and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will away the images of Kuroo’s broken body on the tracks, thrown from the train when it collided with another.

He was being silly.  Thinking too much.

But whether he was overthinking things or not, he needed to find Kuroo.  His heart was beating too fast, his hands shaking, and his tail puffed up.  It was getting harder to breathe.

He needed to find Kuroo.

There weren’t too many places the older boy could be.  There was the school, but Kenma couldn’t go there.  The train station down the street, which Kenma had successfully navigated himself to once with Kuroo’s help.  And there was one more.

Kenma always felt strange leaving the apartment.  He didn’t bother to put his shoes on, too concerned about the other boy to even think of it.  He grabbed the spare key they had hanging by the coat rack and locked the door behind him, clutching the key to his chest as he padded down the soft, worn carpet of the hallway.

Bokuto Koutarou was a friend of theirs.  Well, he was Kuroo’s friend and one of the first people to whom Kenma had been introduced.  The slightly eccentric, owl-loving boy and his parents lived one floor above and four doors down.  Kenma had been to their apartment a few times and knew the way.

He didn’t want to take the elevator, too afraid he’d run into someone else who lived in the building, so he headed toward the door to the stairs at the end of the hall.

He pushed the heavy door open and shivered.  The stairwell was always the coldest – or the hottest, depending on the time of the year.  It wasn’t well-insulated and the aged concrete smelled musty and damp year-round.

But, beyond the smell of decay and someone’s spilled soda, he caught a whiff of something he recognized.  Something warm, rich, and a little spicy.  It was comforting and familiar.

“Kuro,” he breathed, feeling the tension leave his body, his sore muscles relaxing.

Then he heard a voice, not as deep as Kuroo’s and a little squeaky, like it hadn’t finished changing just yet.

“Yeah, just wanna try it.”  It was Bokuto.

Kenma furrowed his brow.  Just wanted to try what?

“Okay.” He heard Kuroo speak this time, voice hushed and tinged with apprehension.  “Okay,” he repeated and then the talking stopped.

Kenma swallowed and walked into the stairwell, climbing the first few steps until he made it to the landing.  Then he looked up and his eyes widened.

Kuroo and Bokuto were standing so close.  One of the taller boy’s hands was gripping the back of Bokuto’s shirt, his other was pressed against the wall behind him.  They stared at each other for a moment and then they were kissing.

Kenma’s stomach dropped and his throat burned.  For a moment, he wasn’t sure if he could breathe or not, his lungs aching far too much to try.

Then the two pulled apart, faces red, eyes half-lidded.

“So, how was—Kenma!” Kuroo’s startled cry broke the cat hybrid from his stupor.

They were staring down at him, eyes wide and faces bright red.  Their lips shined in the fluorescent light of the stairwell, slick with spit. 

His stomach turned.

“I…” His hands were shaking.  His legs were shaking.  He blinked back hot tears he didn’t notice had been welling up.  “I’m sorry!” he shouted and took off down the stairs, completely bypassing his floor in his haste to get away.

Kuroo was kissing Bokuto.  Kuroo and Bokuto were kissing.  Why?  Why were they…?

Kenma rounded another corner, feeling dizzy, and fell to the ground, his hands coming up to cover his ears and his tail wrapping tightly around him.  He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, his chin resting on his knees.

Kuroo was kissing Bokuto.  Kuroo was kissing someone.

Kuroo was kissing someone _else_.

That last thought shocked him.  He and Kuroo had never done that before.  Kisses were something owners demanded from their pets.  Something Kenma could never give properly.  Kisses, he learned later, after he’d been thrown away, were also a way to show love.

Kuroo loved Bokuto?

Kuroo didn’t love him?

Kenma was confused.  For the first time in his life, he felt like hitting someone.  But he didn’t know who.

Burning heat rose up in the back of his throat, threatening to choke him.  And then he sobbed so loud it echoed through the stairwell, bouncing off the walls and mocking him.

“Kuro…” He let the tears fall.  What was wrong with him?

“Kenma!”

He turned and saw the older boy, his face now white and eyes still impossibly wide.

Kenma wanted to run to him.  To bury his face in his chest, but he didn’t.  He was paralyzed.

“Kenma…” Kuroo said again, softer this time.  He walked down the remaining steps between them and crouched by his side, reaching toward him.  “Kenma-”

“Where’s Bokuto?” he asked, surprised at how angry his own voice sounded.

Kuroo visibly winced and pulled his hand back, letting it fall to his side.

“I...um, he's still up there, I think.”

Kenma nodded and then turned away, burying his face in his knees.

“I’m sorry,” Kuroo said then, voice wavering.

For what?  For kissing Bokuto?  Because Kenma had seen it?  Why was he sorry?

“Why?” Kenma croaked, the immense heat in his chest and throat making his head hurt.

“Because Bo and I-”

“Do you love him?” Kenma asked, wiping his face on his sleeve and glaring up at Kuroo.

“What?” The other boy looked surprised.

“Do you love Bokuto?” He tried again, feeling hurt and confused and angry.

“Oh, Kenma, no, I don’t lo-”

“Then why were you kissing him?” Kenma sobbed, voice cracking.

“Ken-”

“Your mom said k-kissing was f-for-” he cut himself off, his body shaking too badly for him to continue.

Warm arms engulfed him and, as much as he should have, he didn’t pull away.  He was surrounded by Kuroo’s scent and, despite how upset and confused he was, it was soothing.

Kenma closed his eyes and rested his head against Kuroo’s chest, absently wondering why the other’s heart was beating so fast.

“I…” Kuroo began, squeezing him tighter. “I don't like Bo. Not like that.”

Kenma nodded, understanding that now.  But that still didn’t explain the kiss.

“We both, Bo and I, um,” he swallowed, “Neither one of us has ever kissed anyone and the guys were talking about it after practice and we just thought…” he trailed off, resting his chin on the top of Kenma’s head. “We just wanted to see what it was like.”

Oh.

“And…” Kenma pulled back and looked up at him. “How was it?”

“Wet and weird,” Kuroo answered immediately, giving an awkward laugh. “Bo’s my friend and all, but, I don’t think we’ll be doing that again.”

Relief washed over him at those words and Kenma pressed forward, nuzzling Kuroo’s chest.

But there was one more question he wanted answered.

“…not me?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Kuroo craned his neck and cocked his head to the side.

“What?”

“Why not me?” Kenma asked again. “You could have tried kissing me…” He looked down at their knees, touching on the cold concrete floor.

Kuroo was silent and, for a moment, Kenma wondered if the thought of kissing him disgusted the older boy.

“You…”

Kenma looked up and saw Kuroo’s eyes, normally golden and sparkling with mirth, were dimmed, almost murky.

“You don’t like to be touched,” Kuroo said finally. “I couldn’t ask you to-”

“You touch me,” Kenma argued, raising his brows, his ears perking up.

“That’s different-”

“How?” he asked. “I don’t let anyone touch me. Can’t stand the thought of it, but…when Kuro touches me,” he paused, not sure how to word it. “It feels…okay.”

Kuroo snorted.

“Okay?” he asked, some of the sparkle coming back to his eyes.

“I don’t hate it,” Kenma explained, his cheeks warming up. “I…like it.”

“Oh,” Kuroo said and then bit his lip, his brow furrowed. “Then…about kissing…um…”

“If it’s Kuro.” He placed his hands on either side of the older teen’s face, bringing him closer. “I don’t mind.” Then he pressed their lips together.

This was so different from any of the kisses Kenma had ever given.  He didn’t feel revulsion or the urge to push the other boy away.  No, he felt warm and safe and happy.  His heart fluttered when Kuroo finally responded, pushing back firmly.

Kenma opened his mouth and slid his tongue along the seam of Kuroo’s lips, surprising him and causing the other boy to jerk back suddenly, cheeks pink.

“Kenma, that-”

“How was it?” he asked, feeling bashful all of a sudden. Had he done something wrong?

“Wet,” Kuroo replied, blinking.

Kenma's face fell at that.  Was his kiss no different than Bokuto's?  Had Kuroo's heart not fluttered like his had?

“And wonderful.” Kuroo finished before the hybrid had a chance to run away again.  He grinned and smoothed down Kenma’s hair, stroking it lovingly. “That’s why it didn’t feel right with Bo,” he began, leaning forward and touching their foreheads together. “That’s what was missing.”

“What was?” Kenma asked, melting into the other’s embrace as Kuroo’s larger hands moved to rub his ears in small, soothing circles.

“You,” Kuroo breathed. “It's just doesn't feel right...not unless it's with you.”

“Kuro…” He sniffled and swatted his shoulder, rolling his eyes.

“Oww!” Kuroo laughed. “What was that for?”

“You’re cheesy.”

“Yeah, but you love me, right?”

Kenma’s gaze shot up then, meeting Kuroo’s.  The other boy was laughing, his eyes sparkling like they always did, filled with mirth and a hint of mischievousness.

Yes.  Yes, he loved Kuroo.  He was sure there was no one in the world he could love _other_ than Kuroo.

But he kept that to himself for now, choosing instead to flick the other’s forehead.

“Let’s get home.” Kenma stood up and walked toward the stairs, leaving a stunned Kuroo in his wake. “Your mom made porridge.”

That snapped him out of it.

“What kind?” Kuroo asked, dusting himself off and catching up.

“Vegetable.”

“Ugh, would it kill her to make some fish?” he complained and Kenma hid a small smile.  

“And you should probably tell Bokuto you’re sorry for running off like that,” Kenma added.

“Shit, I forgot about him,” Kuroo lamented. “Come with me to apologize?”

Kenma made a big show of thinking about it.

“What’s in it for me?” he asked.

Kuroo leaned close then, backing the cat hybrid up against the wall and caging him in with his arms.

“I’ll kiss you again,” he breathed huskily and Kenma’s heart skipped a beat.  Having Kuroo so close was overwhelming in the best way.  His warmth, his scent, and the thought of those lips pressed against his again sent him reeling.

But he simply put a hand on the taller boy’s chest and pushed him away.

“I’ll pass,” he said coolly, his heart still beating a bit too fast. “Apologize and come home for dinner.”

“Fine…” Kuroo deflated, looking more like the teenager he was as opposed to whatever desirable thing he’d transformed into only moments earlier. “But see if we have any fish we can toss in there?”

Kenma waved his hand to show he understood and made his way back up the steps to their apartment, letting Kuroo race ahead so he could get to Bokuto’s and apologize as soon as possible.

He made it to the apartment and closed the door, not bothering to lock it, since he knew Kuroo would be back shortly.  Then he put the spare key back on its hook and leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down until his backside hit the floor.

He loved Kuroo.

Kenma’s entire face felt hot and the tips of ears burned.

He buried his face in his hands and tried to keep the stupid, goofy-looking grin off of his face.

He loved Kuroo.

But of course he did.

Now he just had to figure out how to act around him now that he was aware of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh ho ho? 
> 
> Let me know what you think and hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!


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